The current situation at Chornobyl

March 16 update from The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine

The SNRIU continues informing on the state of the Chornobyl NPP.

Until now, all Chornobyl NPP facilities, and facilities located in the Exclusion Zone are under the control of the aggressor country’s military.

At present, the regulatory control over the state of nuclear and radiation safety at the Chornobyl NPP site and in the Exclusion Zone, as well as control over nuclear materials at the enterprise is impossible to exercise.

According to the information received from the Chornobyl NPP management, the power supply of all facilities located on the Chornobyl NPP site was restored on 14 March 2022, and at 17:45, operation of all diesel generators providing emergency power supply to these facilities was stopped.

At 18:14, the ChNPP-Slavutych high-voltage line was connected.

The operation of the Exclusion Zone automated radiation monitoring system has not been restored up to now. There is no information on the real situation at the Chornobyl NPP site, as there is no contact with the NPP personnel present directly at the site for the 21^st day in a row without rotation.

Given the psychological, moral, and physical fatigue of the personnel, as well as the absence of day-time and repair staff, maintenance and repair activities of equipment important to the safety of the facilities at the Chornobyl NPP site are not carried out, which may lead to the reduction of its reliability, which in turn can lead to equipment failures, emergencies, and accidents. (Photo: Timm Suess/Creative Commons)